Who for the Scudetto, who for the Champions League. The Saturday of the championship offers two tasty advances such as Atalanta-Roma (15pm) and Bologna-Juventus (18pm), which could have a significant impact on standings and prospects. The tricolor speech, for obvious reasons, concerns only the Bergamo players, who in case of victory would overtake Milan, albeit with one game more, thus leaping to second place alone, minus 3 from leaders Inter, victorious in anticipation yesterday against Salernitana.
Roma and Juventus, on the other hand, cannot aim so high, but it is clear that today they are playing a lot: winning, especially for the Giallorossi since it is a direct match, would exponentially increase the chances of Champions, also by virtue of tomorrow's match between Milan and Naples, which inevitably will allow us to earn some points. In short, a delicate Saturday, not to be mistaken for any reason: it must be for this reason that Allegri, during Wednesday's training open to the press, did not spare his shouts to his players, as if he wanted to wake them up from the torpor they have been in since mid-August.
“The team had a full week of work, we trained well – confirmed Max in the press conference -. Now is the time to all grow together and improve: there is no ultimatum, no scaremongering, we are following a path of growth to go back up and grow and be at our best for the restart in January when important matches await us, but we have to win in Bologna : we only scored two points between Udinese, Empoli, Sassuolo, Verona and Venice, they are very few…”.
Numbers don't lie and they explain a lot of the lame championship of the bianconeri: to the results already mentioned by Allegri, moreover, the only 23 goals scored in 17 days must be added, which make the Signora the 13th attack in the championship, ahead only of Turin, Udinese, Genoa, Spezia, Cagliari, Venice and Salernitana. Network sickness must necessarily be cured and who knows if the January transfer market will come to the rescue (Icardi could leave Paris on loan), subject to some important transfers (Kulusevski and Ramsey), a sine qua non for operating in a time of great economic difficulties . “It makes no sense to talk about it now that we still have to play – Allegri glossed over -.
Al market the club takes care of it, but it's not January that solves the team's goal. We need to improve, be more cynical up front." And then down with Bologna, in a demanding away match that absolutely shouldn't be taken lightly, even more so after what happened last Saturday in Venice.
The Juventus coach will have to give up, in addition to the usual Chiesa, Danilo and Ramsey, also Dybala and Chiellini, for a 4-3-3 that will see Szczesny in goal, Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt and Pellegrini in defense, Bentancur, Locatelli and McKennie in midfield, Bernardeschi, Morata and Kean in attack. Mihajlovic, disappointed after last Sunday's defeat in Turin, will try to redeem himself with the usual 3-4-2-1 with Skorupski in goal, Soumaoro, Medel and Theate in the back, De Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg and Hickey in the midfield, Soriano and Barrow behind the lone striker Arnautovic. However, the most fascinating match on Saturday is that of Bergamo, where Gasperini and Mourinho will go hunting for very heavy points for their respective goals. It is difficult to say who, on paper, plays more, given that both need to win, otherwise they risk falling behind, but it is clear that Roma, being further behind in the standings, must at least avoid defeat.
“There is a fundamental difference between me and Gasperini: he has been working at Atalanta for six years, while I have been at Roma for six months – thought Mou -. They are a fantastic club, very stable, I had known them as a mid-table team, now they are in the Champions League and are playing to win the Scudetto. We, on the other hand, have a new owner who in my opinion is doing a fantastic job, there is a significant difference between the two companies but there is one thing I have no doubts about: we can win”. “This is a cartel match, we will need great concentration – thought Gasp -.
It is a very important moment of the championship because in a few days we close the first round, which is very significant, but now we need to improve our performance at home and bring it back to a better points quota. Are we the anti-Inter? This is what other people say or write, we don't have to think about it." In short, a watershed match for both, in one sense or another.
The Nerazzurri coach has everyone at his disposal, except for the long-term patient Goossens, therefore he will be spoiled for choice in deploying the best possible 3-4-2-1, which should see Musso in goal, Toloi, Palomino and Djimsiti in defense, Zappacosta, De Roon, Freuler and Maehle in midfield, Pessina and Malinovskyi behind lone striker Zapata. More training problems instead for Mourinho, who however finds Zaniolo and Mancini, returning from the suspension remedied against Inter: the Giallorossi 3-5-2 will be made up of Rui Patricio in goal, Mancini, Smalling and Ibanez in the back, Karsdorp, Mkhitaryan, Cristante, Veretout and Vina in the midfield, Zaniolo and Abraham in attack.
